Digital Commons Network^™

Addressing The Challenges Of Cognitive Decline In The Physician Workforce, Sharona Hoffman

Faculty Publications

This book chapter examines the growing challenge of cognitive decline among aging physicians and analyzes various approaches to addressing it. In 2024, twenty percent of working physicians were sixty-five or older, and evidence suggests that 12-14% of older clinicians have cognitive deficits that may affect job performance. The chapter evaluates two primary approaches to cognitive assessment: employer-initiated programs and programs operated by state medical boards. Employer "late career practitioner policies" (LCPP) that require older physicians to undergo testing are becoming increasingly popular among health care organizations. But they are vulnerable to challenge under disability and age discrimination laws, as evidenced …

Runaway Coral-Algal Dysbiosis May Be Responsible For Rapid Coral Tissue Loss, Ashley M. Rossin, Kelsey M. Beavers, Carly E. Karrick, Jeanne Bloomberg, Sonora Meiling, Gaby E. Carpenter, Benjamin H. Farmer, Brittney Green, Emily Van Buren, Alex Veglia, Amy Apprill, Marilyn Brandt, Adrienne M.S. Correa, Ian C. Enochs, Stephen R. Midway, Erinn M. Muller, Laura Mydlarz, Tyler B. Smith, Michael S. Studivan, Daniel M. Holstein

Faculty Publications

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) affects at least 22 Western Atlantic coral species and presents as focal or multifocal lesions, which swiftly expand across the colony, resulting in rapid tissue loss and mortality. Previous histopathological examinations have noted necrosis, body wall breakage, gastrodermal separation, exocytosis, and vacuolization of the symbiont as pathological signs; however, the same signs are present to some degree in otherwise apparently healthy coral tissues processed for histology. Here, we quantify the degree of symbiont vacuolization, symbiont size change, exocytosis, and gastrodermal separation in apparently healthy and diseased coral tissues of eight coral species in association …

Ecogeomorphic Feedbacks Influence Elevation Change Across Microtidal Wetland Settings Of Coastal Louisiana, Carol Wilson, Tracy Quirk, Donald R. Cahoon, Gregg A. Snedden, Leigh Anne Sharp

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Methods For Tagging Whale Sharks: Insights Into Performance And Best Practices With A Focus On Clamp Attachments, Freya C. Womersley, Sofia Green, Alberto Garcia-Baciero, Ronan Conlon, Amy L. Jeffries, Matt J. Waller, Sara S. Ratão, Nuno Queiroz, Pedro Afonso, Gonzalo Araujo, Adam Barnett, Christine Barry, Michael L. Berumen, Farukhkha Bloch, Ginevra Boldrocchi, Camrin D. Braun, Ryan Caillouet, Constance Chapman, Jesse E.M. Cochran

Faculty Publications

Background: Biologging and telemetry have transformed our understanding of marine megafauna movement ecology. Yet, methodological constraints continue to limit data quality and deployment duration. Devices recording whale shark (Rhincodon typus) behaviours and movements have been used for decades, but they remain challenging to deploy and vary in success. Recently, spring-loaded clamp-based systems have emerged as one of the most widely used approaches to attach electronic tags to the fins of this globally endangered species. Currently, however, no consensus guidelines exist as to how to optimise this approach, potentially leading to continued underperforming deployments limiting analysis potential. Here, we synthesise experiences …

Did We Build What We Promised? Evaluating Maker Culture And Practice At A Public Historically Black University​, Harvey D. Long, Nicole Whetsel, Darian Quick

Faculty Publications

In 2021, F.D. Bluford Library at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (North Carolina A&T) received a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant to establish a makerspace to expand access to making, support project-based learning, and foster a sense of belonging at North Carolina A&T. Although the College of Engineering has a makerspace, North Carolina A&T did not have one available to students across all majors.

North Carolina A&T is a public, land-grant historically Black university, serving more than 15,000 students. As an institution with a longstanding emphasis on STEM education, entrepreneurship, and innovation, North Carolina A&T provides …

A Nonlinear Viscoelastic 3d Bellows Microspring Fabricated With Two-Photon Polymerization, Harris J. Hall, Tyler Grunzke, Samuel Campbell, Hengky Chandrahalim

Faculty Publications

In the past decade, two-photon polymerization (TPP) based 3D printing has gained popularity for prototype fabrication of micro and nanoscale structures and mechanical metamaterials. However, practical considerations including response uniformity, nonlinear behaviors, and material aging effects remain challenges for device maturation and are seldom reported. In this work, a pair of cylindrical microscale bellows springs (~ 100 μm diameter), fabricated with a commercial TPP 3D printer, are shown to exhibit nonlinear stiffness profiles under compression (up to ~ 7%), with distinct linear and nonlinear regions, that change significantly after ~ 9–10 months of open air exposure in ambient lab conditions. …

Finite Mathematics: A Course Guide, Angela West Dixon, Hillary Dosser

Faculty Publications

Finite Mathematics: A Course Guide is a supplement to Mathematics for Business and Social Sciences by Kathryn Bollinger and Vanessa Coffelt. The authors of this Course Guide, Angela Dixon and Hilary Dosser, are instructors of Mathematics at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. This Course Guide was developed in response to adapting MATH 1324, Finite Mathematics to a zero-cost course, using an Open Educational Resource (OER) implemented in the Fall semester of 2026. According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Academic Course Guide Manual (ACGM), MATH 1324 Mathematics for Business and Social Sciences concerns the application of …

Barrel-Rides And She-Elves: Audience And Anticipation In Peter Jackson’S Hobbit Trilogy [Note], Janet Croft

Faculty Publications

Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, to the audience that loved the Lord of the Rings films, is an exciting opportunity to revisit Tolkien’s fantastic world and see favorite characters acting out their earlier adventures. The reader of the books, though, is often likely to find the difference in tone between the children’s book and the vastly expanded films jarring. This essay will explore audience expectations, the difficulties of filming a “prequel” after a “sequel,” and issues of “anticipation” in relation to character development.

Mora Valley Of The Mills 2026: A Documentary Report History Of The Milling Industry And Cultural Heritage Preservation, Jose A. Rivera

Faculty Publications

The flour mills along the upper Mora River constitute the largest number of still standing commercial mills in the State of New Mexico, namely the Cleveland Roller Mill, the St. Vrain Mill, the Gordon-Sánchez Mill, and the La Cueva Mill at the Houser Raspberry Ranch. Notably, all four mills are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. During their heyday, 1964-1920, Mora County was seen as the “breadbasket of New Mexico” due to its bountiful supply of cereal and cool climate vegetables. Local acequia farmers supplied the mills with the input of wheat, corn and other grains that led …

Commoveo Decisis And Democratic Devolution, Cristina Carmody Tilley

Faculty Publications

The Roberts Court is giving the nation a bad case of constitutional whiplash. Law that was once thought etched in stone is being erased and replaced, with gleeful regularity. Movement conservatives are cheering the rollback of race and gender precedents. Movement liberals are shuddering at every toppled landmark. Meanwhile, lay Americans are starting to wonder when they ceded control over the fabric of their social lives to an elite legal apparatus that cannot be trusted to steer in a straight line. This Article considers whether the Court’s destabilization of the nation’s individual rights architecture might prompt a redistribution of democratic …

Graph-Theoretic Analysis Of Function Call Graphs Using L-Moments For Malware Detection, Anthony J. Rose, Wayne C. Henry, Scott R. Graham, Christine M. Schubert Kabban, Christopher M. Rondeau

Faculty Publications

Most malware detection continues to rely on signature matching, which struggles with obfuscated or novel variants. This research presents a malware detector that instead relies on the static structure of function call graphs, summarized using L-moments of the degree, betweenness, closeness, and clustering measures into compact, interpretable descriptors that persist across malware variants. Evaluated on 175,633 binaries spanning many families under balanced, natural-prevalence, and prevalence-weighted training regimes, ensemble methods achieved Area Under the Curve (AUC) values up to 0.98 on the full-corpus random split, while a feed-forward neural network remained robust across regimes with AUC 0.92–0.95. Linear baselines were far …

Complementary Thermodynamic Mechanisms Of Boron And Carbon Segregation At Grain Boundaries In Nickel Alloys, Tyler D. Dolezal, Rodrigo Freitas, Ju Li

Faculty Publications

Grain boundary stabilization by light interstitials is central to the performance of Ni-based superalloys, yet the thermodynamic mechanisms governing their interactions with substitutional chemistry remain poorly resolved. Here, we use hybrid Monte Carlo molecular dynamics simulations to quantify how boron and carbon modify the thermodynamic, structural, and chemical ordering of grain boundaries in Ni-Cr alloys. By analyzing interfacial state variables, site-resolved segregation spectra, local chemical ordering, and structural evolution, we show that boron and carbon stabilize grain boundaries through complementary pathways. Carbon drives saturation-controlled stabilization by recruiting Cr and conditioning boundary chemistry, while suppressing temperature-driven structural transformations of the boundary. …

A Square Peg In A Round Hole: Academic Review And Exhibitions, Cory L. Nimer, Megan E. Frost

Faculty Publications

Academic libraries increasingly use exhibitions as scholarly communication, yet conventional peer-review models rarely account for their collaborative, interdisciplinary nature. Museums and other GLAM institutions have developed standards addressing exhibition goals, audiences, interpretation, attribution, access, and visitor engagement, offering a useful foundation for academic library practice. At Brigham Young University, a library task force examined peer-review models across disciplines and adapted museum standards into a policy for evaluating exhibitions as scholarship in retention and promotion processes. Approved in January 2025, the policy was first applied to By Study and By Faith: 150 Years of BYU, an exhibition developed for the …

Methodological Variations In Environmental Justice Screening Tools And Their Impact On Disadvantaged Community Designations, Thomas Robbins, Qingran Li, Stephen Bird

Faculty Publications

Government agencies in the United States have developed environmental justice screening tools (EJSTs) and designations to promote equitable distribution of benefits from environmental policies to disadvantaged communities (DACs). However, the methodological choices embedded in these tools, including the selection, weighting, and aggregation of environmental justice indicators, vary across EJSTs, and their implications for DAC designation outcomes are poorly understood. Here we systematically compare four EJSTs at the federal and state levels and show that these tools produce substantial variation in the DAC census tracts, with some tools emphasizing socioeconomic burdens while others prioritize environmental risks. Using quantitative regression models, we …

Application Of Machine Learning To Discover Dynamical Structures In 4d Poincaré Maps In The Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem, Kevin M. Trigg, Daniel J. Broyles, Robert A. Bettinger, Tyler J. Kapolka

Faculty Publications

The spatial Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CR3BP) produces complex orbital dynamics that are difficult to classify at scale using traditional, manual Poincaré map analysis. A Poincaré map simplifies continuous orbital motion by recording the points where a trajectory intersects a chosen surface in phase space, converting a continuous path into a discrete set of crossings that reveal underlying topological structure. These crossings make it easier to characterize trajectory behavior, but interpreting them visually becomes impractical for large datasets and as Poincaré maps evolve from two into four dimensions. To address this challenge, an unsupervised clustering pipeline for discovering dynamical structures …

Welcome To Our Charity Bazaar, Leslee Thorne-Murphy, Maggie Kopp

Faculty Publications

Catalog for the 2017-2018 exhibit at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, BYU Library. Charity bazaars were a product of a massive nineteenth-century philanthropic undertaking in the United Kingdom, as private citizens attempted to respond to the social ills created by a rapidly industrializing economy. Bazaars combined the entertainment value of a social gathering and the fun of a town fair, with the moral earnestness of philanthropic work. Typically organized by women, these bazaars offered handmade goods for sale, raising funds for numerous local and national charitable causes. The exhibit showcases the history and print culture of the charity bazaar, from …

Enhancing The Bearing Capacity And Settlement Performance Of Soft Clay Using Geocell Reinforcement: A 3d Numerical Parametric Study, Alaa Ata, Engy E. Elbasuny, Ayman Metodiev El-Zohairy, Marwa Nabil

Faculty Publications

Problematic soils pose a risk to structures due to excessive or uneven settlement, swelling, and limited bearing capacity. To address some of these issues, mechanical reinforcement using geosynthetic products such as geocells can be employed, given their ease and speed of implementation. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of geocells on the behavior of soft clay soil in Port Said, Egypt, using a three-dimensional finite element model, namely, the PLAXIS 3D software. The results show that replacing the top 1.5 m of the soft clay with sand significantly reduced settlement. This improvement was further enhanced by …

Genai And The Self Represented Litigant, Kristen Clarke Kellems, Kristen Clarke Kellems, Kristen Clarke Kellems

Faculty Publications

Generative AI is making it easier for self-represented litigants to produce polished legal documents, but easier filing does not necessarily lead to better outcomes. This presentation examines how AI may expand access to courts while increasing weak filings, early dismissals, and burdens on the legal system.

The session reviews attorneys’ duties of technological competence, confidentiality, supervision, and citation verification. It also distinguishes general-purpose AI from legal research tools. Using a Utah third-party custody and guardianship problem, the presentation compares several tools based on statutory accuracy, legal comprehension, treatment of case law, and completeness. The results show that identifying controlling cases …

Parental Perceptions Of Censorship In Utah: Working Paper, Rachel L. Wadham, Dallyn Edmunds

Faculty Publications

The rapid rise of book challenges and removals in U.S. school libraries has increasingly been justified through appeals to parental rights, yet relatively little research has explored what parents themselves believe about censorship and book removal. This exploratory qualitative study examined Utah parents’ perceptions of censorship in school libraries, the kinds of content they believe should be restricted, and the reasoning underlying those beliefs. Using a grounded theory-informed thematic analysis approach, data were collected through a survey of 319 Utah parents with children enrolled in public schools. The survey combined closed-ended and open-ended questions, allowing participants to articulate their views …

Tax Exceptionalism After Loper Bright, Conor Clarke, Noah Hertz Marks

Faculty Publications

In this article, the authors consider what Loper Bright means for the relevance of Mayo Foundation and National Muffler as well as its broader implications for agency-specific deference, and they examine older case law that can be helpful post-Loper Bright.

Equal Goals, Unequal Standards: The Policy Debate On Goalpost Dimensions In Women’S Football, Tarlan Chahardovali, Johan Rewilak Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This study critically examines proposals to reduce goalpost sizes in women’s football; a debate often framed as a practical adjustment to accommodate physiological differences between male and female goalkeepers. Using data from men’s and women’s professional English football within two distinct periods (1951–1975 and 2011–2025), we investigate whether differences in goalkeepers’ height, gender and training are associated with variations in goals conceded. Our findings reveal that taller goalkeepers concede fewer goals; however, this relationship is U-shaped and this benefit diminishes beyond a certain point. We also find that improved coaching and investment, proxied by additional training via national team selection, …

The Evolution Of Reliability Methods For Nondestructive Evaluation (Nde): From Probability Of Detection (Pod) Conception To Contemporary Practices, Christine E. Knott, Jennifer Brown, John Aldrin, Christine M. Schubert Kabban

Faculty Publications

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods are powerful tools for detecting and characterizing flaws in structural components, but their reliability must be evaluated before they can be used in critical applications. For more than 50 years, probabilistic and statistical methods have been used effectively to estimate reliability by describing an NDE system’s Probability of Detection (POD) for flaws of realistic sizes. The POD methods used by the USAF and NASA, like Hit/Miss, Signal-Response (â vs. a), and Point Estimate method (PEM, a.k.a. 29/29) have evolved, alongside newer approaches like Limited Sample POD (LS-POD) method, and Model Assisted Probability of Detection …

Uneven Surfaces, Chipped Plates And Hiding Spaces: Pedagogical Practices In The Nordic Outdoor Model Of Education, Karen Walker

Faculty Publications

This article shares insights from a professional study tour of Danish early childhood education programmes, examining how social pedagogical principles are embedded in outdoor learning environments. During June 2024, a group of early childhood teacher educators from the United States visited forest kindergartens, adventure playgrounds and natural playscapes in Denmark as participants in the Nordic Outdoor Model of Education study tour. Through guided visits and observations, we documented pedagogical practices that demonstrate the application of social pedagogy– particularly the integration of head, heart and hands in supporting children’s holistic development. This article connects observed practices to social pedagogical theory, highlighting …

Waste Streams From Next Generation Molten Salt Reactors: The Challenge Of Creating An Insoluble Ceramic For Chloride Salt Waste, Alevtina A. Maksimova, Jake W. Amoroso, Matthew Page, Gregory Morrison, Hans Conrad Zur Loye

Faculty Publications

Molten salt reactors (MSRs) design development is of interest to many research groups and companies. Waste management for MSRs is one of the most important issues that needs to be resolved due to its impact on environmental safety, primarily via the dissolution of radionuclides in water. Furthermore, the waste treatment strategy will have a significant influence on the operating cost of MSRs, which is why a reliable process for the immobilization, transportation, storage and disposal of MSR waste must be addressed. This work presents a new approach for the immobilization of chloride salts from molten salt reactors in stable oxyhalide …

Myths, Risks, And Realities Of Floppy Disk Preservation, Tyler Thorsted, Leontien Talboom, Julianna Barrera-Gomez, Ross Spencer

Faculty Publications

Floppy disks remain vital for accessing early digital collections, yet online forums and blogs circulate many untested myths around these carriers. This paper examines common claims about reading disks; handling, cleaning, storage and media fragility; evaluating them in the context of contemporary workflows. Drawing on practical experience, targeted testing, and collaboration with conservation experts, we distinguish between theoretical risks and real-world workflows. By situating online advice within our own preservation practice, we provided a grounded perspective that helps preservation practitioners navigate legacy media.

Analysis Of The Impacts Of Propositions 41 And 42 On California Public Finance, David Gamage, Brian D. Galle, Darien Shanske

Faculty Publications

This memorandum discusses the possible collateral damage that Propositions 41 and 42 (on the ballot in California on November 3, 2026) might cause.  The two propositions were concocted very quickly by billionaires in order to trick voters that will vote for Proposition 40 (the billionaire tax) also to vote for these propositions that are designed to undermine the billionaire tax.

The basic trick is that these propositions have plausible seeming veneers but hide a poison pill that aims to frustrate the functioning of the billionaire tax.  The veneers are “plausible seeming” because they address problems that are not problems.  For …

Finite-Time Braiding Dynamics Within Topological Nanowire Qubits, Adrian D. Scheppe, Michael V. Pak

Faculty Publications

Topological quantum computing has largely evolved toward a paradigm of manipulating edge-localized Majorana within p-wave topological superconducting nanowires. To bridge the gap between physical qubit systems and quantum algorithms, we perform a dynamical analysis to extend what is known in the adiabatic regime, providing time-dependent gate elements for further qubit and algorithm modeling efforts. Our analysis covers dynamical considerations for two methods of shuttling domain edge bound Majoranas in a single nanowire system, which both function by applying spatiotemporally dependent onsite and hopping parameters within the system’s Hamiltonian. We then complicate this model by converting it into the T-qubit to …

Karhunen-Loève Modes For Coherent Arrays, Jack E. Mccrae, Santasri R. Bose-Pillai, Steven T. Fiorino

Faculty Publications

The optimal modes for correcting atmospheric turbulence on coherent arrays are determined. These Karhunen-Loève modes are eigenvectors of a covariance matrix. Creating this covariance matrix requires knowledge of the power spectrum of the turbulence, the aperture geometry, and a basis set for the matrix. The Kolmogorov power law is ordinarily chosen here for the turbulence spectrum. By choosing the phase on each array subaperture element minus the phase averaged over all subapertures as this basis, infinite values in the variances and covariances can be avoided. The piston mode of the whole array, which would otherwise also be infinite, is thus …

Concepts For Supporting Indigenous And Tribal Information And Research Needs, Sharon Hausam

Faculty Publications

This is a working paper produced as part of National Science Foundation project #2115169, “Transforming Rural-Urban Systems: Trajectories for Sustainability in the Intermountain West,” known as the “Intermountain West Transformation Network” (TN), led by the University of New Mexico with institutional partners at three additional universities in New Mexico, two in Arizona, and one each in Utah, Colorado, and Washington. The TN’s Indigenous and Tribal engagement was supported through a contract with Dr. Sharon Hausam, additional work by Aaron M. Canter, coordination with Dr. Lani Tsinnajinnie, and an Advisory Committee on Indigenous Information Needs primarily comprised of Indigenous representatives in …

Quantification Of Uncertainty Propagation For Transient Heat Transfer In A Hollow Sphere, Rama Subba Reddy Gorla, Lochlan Joyce, Elie John Barbari

Faculty Publications

Uncertainty propagation and transient heat transfer for a hollow sphere are analyzed. The stochastic Biot number, stochastic linear non-dimensional initial conditions, and various boundary conditions are introduced to define uncertainty propagation influencing the temperature distribution throughout the hollow sphere. The resulting uncertainty amplitude was observed to have transient evolution in time. The uncertainty can either increase or decrease depending on the stochastic parameters. Results are presented for the variation in temperature due to uncertainties in the initial conditions and particular boundary conditions.